It may be a quiet achiever and operate under the radar for some people, but South West Sydney Academy of Sport has had another tremendous year of helping local athletes.
That’s why whoever is named its 2015 Athlete of the Year in a couple of weeks will once again be very special – shining on and off the field.
Academy executive director Gerry Knights, speaking to the South West Voice on the eve of the 2015 graduation and sports awards dinner on Friday, July 31, said choosing this year’s winner would once again be a very difficult task for the judges.
“The academy has a large number of high achieving athletes who have been selected in 2015 NSW and Australian aged teams, or have achieved outstanding personal success,’’ Mr Knights said.
However, the academy’s philosophy is that it wants to nurture and encourage talented young people who are also leaders away from the playing field.
“Excelling on the field is only part of being a holistic athlete as far as the academy award selection panel is concerned,’’ Mr Knights said.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“The academy looks for those special athletes that possess the defining personal qualities of a positive attitude, total commitment to task, leadership, respect and responsibility and a strong commitment to community.[/social_quote]
“These are the virtues that set special athletes above the rest; and the calibre of academy athlete achievements during the past 12 months will also ensure whoever wins the award will be a very special athlete indeed,’’ Mr Knights said.
Golfer Ben Clapham took out the academy’s 2014 athlete of the year award after demonstrating all of these virtues.
On the same night Wests Tigers rugby league star James Tedesco spoke of how being part of the academy’s rugby league development program had helped him during his journey to the top of the NRL.
♦ The South West Sydney Academy of Sport was established in 1997 by the NSW Department of Sport and Recreation to service the local government areas of Liverpool, Camden, Campbelltown and Wollondilly.
This academy is one of 11 which operate in NSW, all of which have the same principal roles:
〉 Facilitate the development and support of talented junior athletes in the region;
〉 Provide these athletes with access to specialist support services including coaching, sports science and sports medicine;
〉 Identify and support the development of high performance coaches at the local level;
〉 Provide a clear pathway for athletes from the junior development through to state and national representation.
While the main focus of the graduation and sports awards dinner on July 31 will be on who is named athlete of the year, the academy says it will be a big night for celebrating all that is good about all sports.
Netball will be heavily featured during the night in recognition that the upcoming Netball World Cup will be played in Sydney between August 7 and 16.
As guest speakers at the academy dinner, Sydney Swifts players Susan Pettitt and Abbey McCulloch will share their personal thoughts on the big event and how tough it is to get into the Australian Diamonds netball team.
Pettitt just missed out on World Cup selection, but has now been selected in the Diamonds National team for 2015/2016.
Netball NSW CEO Carolyn Campbell will provide an insight on what it is like to hold the Netball World Cup in Sydney.
But it won’t just be about netball on the night, with a wide range of high profile current international and national athletes scheduled to attend and provide the audience a glimpse of what it takes to make it to the top.
The south west is rugby league heartland so NSW Rugby League CEO David Trodden will provide his thoughts on the 2015 State of Origin series won by Queensland after smashing the Blues in game three at Suncorp Stadium last week.
Gerry Knights says he expects that this year’s event will again be a sell-out at the 600 seat venue, the Cube entertainment and convention centre, Campbelltown Catholic Club.
“I’d like to say how pleased we are at the academy to once again hold this event in conjunction with naming rights sponsor the Campbelltown Catholic Club,’’ Mr Knights said.
• WHO: South West Sydney Academy of Sport;
• WHAT: Graduation and Sports Awards Dinner;
• WHEN: Friday, July 31;
• WHERE: The Cube, Campbelltown Catholic Club
• BOOKINGS: Phone 4627 7622; email sarah@swsas.org.au
• Further academy enquiries: http://www.swsas.org.au/
